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Systema Paradoxa book cover 1
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Systema Paradoxa
Series · 16
books · 2021-2023

Books in series

When the Moon Shines book cover
#1

When the Moon Shines

2021

In the dark days of Prohibition, in the wilderness just outside Harbor City, not all ‘monsters’ walk on two legs, and the ones that do aren’t all men up to no good. Creatures that long ago retreated into the venue of folklore have crept from their dark corners of the world to harry the ’Shiners minding their illicit business in the deep woods. A faithful few recall the legends, and try their luck working for the roadhouses that seek to skirt the law. But life among the crime syndicate can be harrowing. The wise get out, those that don’t, gamble their tomorrows against today…even before the Bosses get the idea to weaponize the living legends lurking in the heart of the forest in a bid to win their bootleg war. Because when the moon shines, danger is afoot…or awing.
Gone to Ground book cover
#2

Gone to Ground

2021

In the heyday of the Roaring Twenties, Trevor Kinkaid's house parties were the highlight of the social season, with lively music, the most fashionable of clothes, excellent food, and, of course, illicit drink. Not just the place to see and be seen, but the place to be noticed. But when a fresh new face catches Trevor's eye and she later turns up dead, no one sees a thing. Or do they? As the cream of society look on their host with speculation, his protests of innocence fall on jaded ears. Even with some unexpected help, can the local detective unearth the truth in time? Or will the real perpetrator go to ground?
Breaking the Code book cover
#3

Breaking the Code

2021

1942\. Gallup, New Mexico. Marine recruiters have come to town looking to fill their ranks with a secret weapon against the Axis powers—what would become Navajo Code Talkers—but not everyone supports the prospect of young native men going off to war. When one new recruit is found dead, and a rancher's cattle are mutilated, whispers of witchcraft and skinwalker filter through the town and interest in enlisting wanes. Is there evil afoot, or is that just what opponents to the cause want everyone to think? Whether guided by magic, mischief, or malevolence, without a doubt, nothing is as it seems...
All-the-Way House book cover
#4

All-the-Way House

2021

When there are talks of a monster sighted in the waves off the Atlantic City boardwalk, Coursers Valentina Perrone and Sarah el-Guindi—supernatural hunters-for-hire—are called in by the local Boss to... handle it. But echoes of the past send them into the heart of the Pine Barrens, where more than one secret hides, along with their answers. Will history repeat itself? Or will the monsters find safe haven? Either way, in the end, they discover there is always more than one way to deal with a problem.
Devil in the Green book cover
#5

Devil in the Green

2021

Summer on Long Island—hot, humid, idyllic... and terrifying? When fledgling photojournalist Ben Keep lands a freelance assignment to document the rediscovery of supposedly long-lost cryptid remains, he partners with biologist Annetta Maikels for the story—but the strange bones only open the door to deeper mysteries and dark secrets. As Ben and Annetta continue to investigate, evidence of more than one living, breathing cryptid surfaces in what wildlands remain between the summer hotspots of Eastern Long Island, leaving them wondering... Will they solve this decades' old mystery, or become one more vanishing chapter in the ongoing tale?
Cryptid Fight Club book cover
#6

Cryptid Fight Club

2021

PI and retired MMA fighter Rufus Griffin pounds the streets of Vegas on the tail of an unfaithful spouse, but what he finds is a tale of another sort. One of intrigue and illicit fight clubs and cage bouts too incredulous to believe, even when he sees the fighters with his own eyes. He keeps his head down and stays on task until he discovers those in the ring aren't there by choice. A victim of abuse himself, there is no way he can leave them to their fate, even when his official business concludes. Rufus Griffin dives back into the underbelly of the Strip and comes out fighting.
Alone in the Muck book cover
#7

Alone in the Muck

2022

After what felt like a lifetime in the sewers, Inspector Max Dalton would have thought he’d seen everything. He would have been wrong. When his trainees discover something inexplicable in the muck, life changes radically for all of them, including Max’s granddaughter, Gwen. News of their discovery gets out and bounty hunters invade the tunnels beneath the city, forcing Max’s cooperation in their search. With life and love and liberty in the balance, Gwen will need help from an unexpected source to evade those looking to capture her new friend.
Chessie at Bay book cover
#8

Chessie at Bay

2022

Same ol' Syn, all new mischief... Just when Theodore Syn starts thinking about sinking roots, the military comes calling, needing a man with his... unique qualifications to deal with a need-to-know problem that's cropped up in the Chesapeake Bay. Something is out there, frightening fish and fishermen alike. But that's not the real problem. Someone is masquerading as a military official on American soil, and with war on the horizon, steps need to be taken to safeguard the East Coast, before the Axis Powers drive a U-boat—or something more unexpected—right up the mouth of the Bay.
Eyes of the Wolf book cover
#9

Eyes of the Wolf

2022

When a sudden trail of death and desolation sweeps through south and central Texas, elements of the case trigger an alert with a division of the FBI that tracks possible supernatural influence. Agent Chimalis Burton, a specialist in cryptids of the Americas, has a history of vanquishing such monstrous creatures. When she is assigned the case, she scrambles to find answers before the situation worsens. Evidence begins to suggest an evil that has festered for centuries; an evil that now rises to reclaim its power. An evil that rests in the soulful eyes of a wolf.
Forget Me Not book cover
#10

Forget Me Not

2021

What is legend? What is truth? A monster is said to lurk beneath the waters of Lake Erie. Jane and her twin brother Rob are haunted by just that. As children, they lost half their family to a terrible boating accident. They haven't left dry land since. Only, at the age of sixteen, they allow friends to lure them onto the lake. But should they have held their ground? When something nearly swamps their boat, years of secrecy are swept away and the children's father shares their family history with the supposed Monster of Lake Erie. Will the tale bring closure or just more tragedy?
Found Footage book cover
#11

Found Footage

A Tale of the Mantis Man

2022

The camera doesn’t lie… but it has been known to hold a secret or two. High-school student Jenny Chen captures a glimpse of an unbelievable creature when filming a student movie in the woods near Princeton, New Jersey. Despite her proof, only her best friend believes her. Determined to reveal the truth about the strange creature, Jenny returns to search the woods, only to end up in a terrifying game of hunt and chase. Someone wants her discovery silenced… but who?
The Play of Light book cover
#12

The Play of Light

2022

Life and Death and Family Secrets... Sheridan Cascaden faces more than memories when she receives a call in the darkest hours summoning her home. Sent away five years prior to safeguard her from the evil that claimed her mother, Sheridan hasn't been back since. She returns to find her childhood home in a disturbing state and her father straddling the Veil, with nothing to explain what happened. Now not only must she deal with her own demons, but she will have to delve into his if she is to unlock the mystery and save Papa's life. But wherein lies the line between truth and madness? Sheridan must find out before it's too late... for both of them...
Hell's Well book cover
#13

Hell's Well

2022

Astrophysicist Dr. Kate Gavin-Weaver’s life was hard enough fighting for tenure at Caltech while raising a four-year-old daughter as a single mother. It was even harder living under the shadow of her estranged father, Mack Gavin, the host of a wildly popular television series, The Cryptid Hunter. But when Mack disappears while researching the subject of his next episode in a secluded wilderness town in California, Kate decides to leave the relative safety of Pasadena to find her father. What she uncovers there shakes the very foundation of her reality and forces her to grapple with an adversary she could’ve never imagined.
Out for Blood book cover
#14

Out for Blood

2023

Prudence Ann Wells grew up believing the things that went bump in the night were just fairy tales. Until the night a slathering beast with all-to-intelligent eyes breaks down their door. She freezes as the creature rushes her and her mother, convinced it can’t be real, as she and her sister, Justice, had always been told. Only they had been raised on lies. Prue survives the attack; her mother does not. Driven by guilt and revenge, she and Justice set out to stop the beast, but can Prue end the nightmare without becoming a monster herself?
Invasive Species book cover
#15

Invasive Species

2023

There are creatures lurking in our world. Obscure creatures long relegated to myth and legend. They have been sighted by a lucky-or unlucky-few, some have even been photographed, but their existence remains unproven and unrecognized by the scientific community.These creatures, long thought gone, have somehow survived; creatures from our nightmares haunting the dark places. They swim in our lakes and bays, they soar the night skies, they hunt in the woods. Some are from our past, and some from other worlds, and others have always been with us-watching us, fearing us, hunting us.These are the cryptids, and Systema Paradoxa tells their tales.\\\*Despite a childhood plagued by death, Daniel Smith has built a good life for himself, though no one would believe it if he told them. Working for the Watchers-a covert organization tasked with keeping cryptids a secret from the common man-everything he has accomplished threatens to crumble when his charge goes rogue, leaving a trail of death and blood and cryptid sightings in his wake.When the rogue invades another cryptid's turf, Daniel must confront his past to save his future, but will any of them survive the encounter?
Sand and Secrets book cover
#17

Sand and Secrets

2023

Academia can be ruthless. Academia in Russia... can be perilous. An internship overseas at a Moscow university becomes so much more when Ella Trigiani is invited on an expedition to the Gobi Desert. Torn between her mammalian studies and the opportunity for real fieldwork experience, she joins the search for an elusive and deadly creature most consider the stuff of legends. Led by what may or may not be love, driven by what is definitely ambition, will Ella thrive or become one more secret lost beneath the sands?

Authors

Mary Fan
Mary Fan
Author · 16 books

Mary Fan is a YA and SFF author hailing from Jersey City. Her books include STRONGER THAN A BRONZE DRAGON (YA steampunk fantasy, Page Street Publishing), the STARSWEPT series (YA sci-fi, Snowy Wings Publishing), the FATED STARS series (YA fantasy, Snowy Wings Publishing), the FLYNN NIGHTSIDER series (YA dark fantasy, Crazy 8 Press), and the JANE COLT trilogy (space adventure, Red Adept Publishing). She is also the co-editor of the BRAVE NEW GIRLS sci-fi anthologies about tech-savvy teen heroines (proceeds from sales are donated to the Society of Women Engineers scholarship fund). Her short works have been featured in numerous anthologies, including THRILLING ADVENTURE YARNS (Crazy 8 Press), LOVE, MURDER & MAYHEM (Crazy 8 Press), MAGIC AT MIDNIGHT (Snowy Wings Publishing), and MINE! (ComicMix). In addition, she is the editor of Crazy 8 Press' upcoming anthology, BAD ASS MOMS (due out July 2020). When she's not writing, she can usually be found splitting bags at the kickboxing gym, tangled up in aerial silks, or singing too loudly at choir rehearsal. Find her online at www.MaryFan.com.

David Lee Summers
David Lee Summers
Author · 15 books
David Lee Summers is an author, editor and astronomer living somewhere between the western and final frontiers. He is the author of eleven novels including The Solar Sea, Owl Dance, and The Astronomer's Crypt. His short fiction and poetry has appeared in such magazines as Realms of Fantasy, Cemetery Dance, The Martian Wave, Star*Line and The Santa Clara Review. He has edited the science fiction and fantasy magazine, Tales of the Talisman and the Full-Throttle Space Tales Anthologies Space Pirates and Space Horrors. Over the years, David has also worked at numerous observatories in the U.S. including Kitt Peak National Observatory.
Anton Kukal
Anton Kukal
Author · 1 books
Anton Kukal is an author, actor, and adventurer. He writes an eclectic mix of stories with complex characters living in diverse world settings. Many of the stories within each setting are interconnected sharing characters and concepts. Most of his stories fall into the following genres: sci-fi, fantasy, horror, superhero, and dystopian.
Sean Patrick Hazlett
Sean Patrick Hazlett
Author · 1 books

Sean is a technology and finance professional working in Silicon Valley. He writes horror and science fiction as well as nonfiction. He is a recent second place winner of the Writers of the Future Contest. He has published over a hundred research reports on clean energy, semiconductors, and enterprise software including Wall Street's first comprehensive market analysis of opportunities in the smart grid, which was cited twice in The Economist (See "Making Every Drop Count" and "Smart Grids: Wiser Wires"). His fiction has appeared in Writers of the Future, Grimdark Magazine, Abyss & Apex, Sci Phi Journal, Fictionvale Magazine, Plasma Frequency Magazine, Kasma SF, The Colored Lens, NewMyths.com, and Mad Scientist Journal, among others. Before becoming working in finance and technology, Sean was a research associate at the Harvard-Stanford Preventive Defense Project where he worked on energy security issues that included the United States-India Strategic Partnership and policy options for confronting Iran's nuclear program. He won the 2006 Policy Analysis Exercise Award at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government for his work on policy solutions to Iran's nuclear weapons program. Sean also spent time at Booz Allen Hamilton as an intelligence analyst focusing on strategic war games and simulations for the Pentagon. Before graduate school, Sean was a cavalry officer in the United States Army where he trained American forces for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan at the National Training Center. Sean holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and bachelor's degrees in History and Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Danielle Ackley-McPhail
Danielle Ackley-McPhail
Author · 19 books

Award-winning author, editor, and publisher Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides of the publishing industry for longer than she cares to admit. In 2014 she joined forces with husband Mike McPhail and friend Greg Schauer to form her own publishing house, eSpec Books (www.especbooks.com). Her published works include eight novels, Yesterday's Dreams, Tomorrow's Memories, Today’s Promise, The Halfling’s Court, The Redcaps’ Queen, Daire’s Devils, The Play of Light, and Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, written with Day Al-Mohamed. She is also the author of the solo collections Eternal Wanderings, A Legacy of Stars, Consigned to the Sea, Flash in the Can, Transcendence, Between Darkness and Light, The Fox’s Fire, The Kindly One, and the non-fiction writers’ guides The Literary Handyman, More Tips from the Handyman, and LH: Build-A-Book Workshop. She is the senior editor of the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series, Gaslight & Grimm, Side of Good/Side of Evil, After Punk, and Footprints in the Stars. Her short stories are included in numerous other anthologies and collections. In addition to her literary acclaim, she crafts and sells original costume horns under the moniker The Hornie Lady Custom Costume Horns, and homemade flavor-infused candied ginger under the brand of Ginger KICK! at literary conventions, on commission, and wholesale. Danielle lives in New Jersey with her husband and fellow writer, Mike McPhail and four extremely spoiled cats.

Patrick Thomas
Patrick Thomas
Author · 8 books
With over a million words in print, PATRICK THOMAS keeps busy writing the the popular fantasy humor series Murphy's Lore (which includes 8 books- Tales From Bulfinche's Pub, Fools' Day, Through The Drinking Glass, Shadow Of The Wolf, Redemption Road, Bartender Of The Gods, Nightcaps and Empty Graves) as well as the After Hours spin offs Fairy With A Gun, Dead To Rites and Lore & Dysorder. His Mystic Investigators series has grown to include the books Bullets & Brimstone and From The Shadows both with John L. French and Once More Upon A Time and the upcoming Partners In Crime both with Diane Raetz. He has co-edited two anthologies - Hear Them Roar and the vampire themed New Blood. Patrick's syndicated humorous advice column Dear Cthulhu has been collected in Have A Dark Day and Good Advice For Bad People. A number of his books are part of the set and props department at the CSI television show. He was voted Preditors & Editors favorite author of 2010. As an artist his work has graced covers for Dark Quest, Padwolf and Marietta, interiors and a cover for Space & Time magazine and comic covers for Ghostman. A mockumentary about him has recently surfaced on Youtube. To learn more, drop by his website at www.patthomas.net.
Hildy Silverman
Hildy Silverman
Author · 2 books
Hildy Silverman was the Editor-in-Chief of Space and Time Magazine for 12 years. She is a short fiction author whose recent publications include, "My Dear Wa'ats" (2018, Baker Street Irregulars II: The Game's Afoot, Ventrella & Maberry, eds.), "The Lady of the Lakes" (2018, Camelot 13, French and Thomas, eds.), "Sidekicked" (2019, Release the Virgins, Ventrella, ed.), and “Divided We Fell” (2020, The Divided States of America, Bechtel, ed.). Her nonfiction articles have appeared in numerous legal and medical professional journals and blogs. In the mundane world, she is the Digital Marketing Manager for Oticon Medical US.
Jorie Rao
Jorie Rao
Author · 1 books
Jorie Rao is a Professor of English at SCC and obtained an MA in creative writing from Rowan University, and was the recipient of the Toni Libro Excellence in Writing award. Her obsession with cryptids and all things that go bump in the night inspired Out for Blood—and if she can ever stop reading other amazing novels, she might write another one!
John L. French
John L. French
Author · 2 books

JOHN L. FRENCH is a retired crime scene supervisor with forty years’ experience. He has seen more than his share of murders, shootings, and serious assaults. As a break from the realities of his job, he started writing science fiction, pulp, horror, fantasy, and, of course, crime fiction. John’s first story “Past Sins” was published in Hardboiled Magazine and was cited as one of the best Hardboiled stories of 1993. More crime fiction followed, appearing in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, the Fading Shadows magazines and in collections by Barnes and Noble. Association with writers like James Chambers and the late, great C.J. Henderson led him to try horror fiction and to a still growing fascination with zombies and other undead things. His first horror story “The Right Solution” appeared in Marietta Publishing’s Lin Carter’s Anton Zarnak. Other horror stories followed in anthologies such as The Dead Walk and Dark Furies, both published by Die Monster Die books. It was in Dark Furies that his character Bianca Jones made her literary debut in “21 Doors,” a story based on an old Baltimore legend and a creepy game his daughter used to play with her friends. John’s first book was The Devil of Harbor City, a novel done in the old pulp style. Past Sins and Here There Be Monsters followed. John was also consulting editor for Chelsea House’s Criminal Investigation series. His other books include The Assassins’ Ball (written with Patrick Thomas), Souls on Fire, The Nightmare Strikes, Monsters Among Us, The Last Redhead, the Magic of Simon Tombs, and The Santa Heist (written with Patrick Thomas). John is the editor of To Hell in a Fast Car, Mermaids 13, C. J. Henderson’s Challenge of the Unknown, Camelot 13 (with Patrick Thomas), and (with Greg Schauer) With Great Power …

James Chambers
James Chambers
Author · 2 books

James Chambers writes tales of horror, crime, fantasy, and science fiction. He is the author of The Engines of Sacrifice, a collection of four Lovecraftian-inspired novellas published in 2011 by Dark Regions Press which Publisher’s Weekly described as “…chillingly evocative….” He is also the author of the short fiction collection Resurrection House (Dark Regions Press, 2009). Most recently, Dark Quest Books published The Dead Bear Witness and Tears of Blood, volume one and two in his Corpse Fauna novella series. Volume three, The Dead in Their Masses, will be published in late 2013. In August 2005 Die Monster Die Books published his first short story collection, The Midnight Hour: Saint Lawn Hill and Other Tales, created in collaboration with illustrator Jason Whitley. His short stories have been published in the anthologies Bad-Ass Faeries, Bad-Ass Faeries 2: Just Plain Bad, Bad-Ass Faeries 3: In All Their Glory, Bad Cop No Donut, Barbarians at the Jumpgate, Breach the Hull, By Other Means, Crypto-Critters (Volume 1 and Volume 2), Dark Furies, The Dead Walk, The Dead Walk Again, Deep Cuts, The Domino Lady: Sex as a Weapon, Dragon’s Lure, The Green Hornet Chronicles, Hardboiled Cthulhu, Hear Them Roar, Hellfire Lounge, In An Iron Cage, Lost Worlds of Space and Time (Volume 1), Mermaids 13, New Blood, No Longer Dreams, Sick: An Anthology of Illness, So It Begins, To Hell in a Fast Car, Walrus Tales, Weird Trails, and Warfear; the chapbook Mooncat Jack; and the magazines Bare Bone, Cthulhu Sex, and Allen K’s Inhuman. His tale “A Wandering Blackness,” one of two published in Lin Carter’s Doctor Anton Zarnak, Occult Detective, received an honorable mention in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, Sixteenth Annual Collection. He has also written numerous comic books including Leonard Nimoy’s Primortals, the critically acclaimed “The Revenant” in Shadow House, and most recently a Midnight Hour story for the comics anthology Negative Burn. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association and the current chairperson of its membership committee. He lives in New York.

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